Client case study · Specialty food & beverage

How Tiesta Tea turned delegation into a growth engine

A specialty tea brand reached profitability and doubled sales two years running, with a 4-person StaffRight team working as an extension of its in-house staff.

Industry: Specialty food & beverage
Team: 4 StaffRight professionals
Partnership: 3+ years

Patrick Tannous, co-founder and president of Tiesta Tea — **Patrick Tannous**Co-founder & President, Tiesta Tea

Results at a glance

300+ Independent wholesale accounts
2× Sales growth, two years in a row
25% Of the founder's time freed up from day one
4 StaffRight team members

Results vary by business and role.

The challenge

A founder buried in admin, and a growth ceiling to break through

Patrick's goal was clear: get Tiesta Tea to profitability. The path ran through wholesale. Big retail chains were slow and expensive to win, and the real opportunity was with independent retailers. But prospecting, follow-up, lead research and email campaigns all landed on Patrick's desk. Every hour on admin was an hour not spent on strategy, partnerships and growth.

Tiesta Tea's founders inspecting tea plants on a hillside tea farm

Placing a wholesale order on the Tiesta Tea website

The solution

A remote team built to run the work, so Patrick could lead

StaffRight didn't just fill seats. Each hire was matched to a specific role, onboarded against clear goals and trained deeply on the Tiesta Tea brand.

Kristine
Customer Support / Operations Associate
Stepped into a role previously held by a US-based rep and quickly exceeded expectations. She keeps the brand's warm, responsive customer service standard, at a fraction of the cost.
Camille
Executive Assistant
Took over lead research, email campaigns and Patrick's inbox, freeing 25% of his time from day one. Grew into one of the strongest salespeople, managing major chain accounts.
Sheila
Revenue Ops Manager
Replaced a domestic analyst and brought more hands-on experience to reporting and operational analysis. Her work helps the business make faster, better-informed, data-driven decisions.
Allanah
E-commerce Specialist
Runs the day-to-day of Tiesta Tea's online store, from product listings and pricing to order flow and promotions. She keeps the storefront accurate, current and ready to convert.

The results

Profitability reached. Growth sustained.

Results vary by business and role.

Reached profitability, after shifting focus to independent wholesale and building outreach that doesn't depend on the founder
Doubled sales two years in a row, with consistent customer follow-up and an empowered remote team
300+ independent wholesale accounts in three years, a recurring revenue base
Patrick got 25% of his time back from the first hire's first day, and put it into strategy and partnerships
Lower overhead, by replacing costly roles with higher-performing StaffRight professionals

Prospecting, follow-up and email campaigns were all landing on my desk. Our first StaffRight hire took that off my plate and freed up a quarter of my week from day one. Three years on, our remote team runs wholesale sales, customer service and reporting, and we’ve doubled sales two years running.

Patrick Tannous, Co-founder & President, Tiesta Tea

Patrick's advice

What made the difference, in Patrick's words

The Tiesta Tea team outdoors, raising Tiesta Tea tins

01
Performance is a product of you as a manager. The quality of your team reflects the quality of your leadership.
02
Be prepared to truly onboard people into your business. Don't just hire; invest in integrating them.
03
Set clear goals. Your team needs to know what success looks like and have the support to get there.
04
Treat your team like your own. The businesses that win are the ones where people feel genuinely valued.

How StaffRight works

Build a team like Tiesta Tea's

See the StaffRight difference

01
Tell us the role, the skills and the kind of person who fits your team.
02
We run 300+ applicants through a multi-step screening and assessment.
03
You typically meet 3 candidates who passed every step, and pick your hire.

Insights

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